


Sleep is healthy

by Laoness



Series: Help, my neighbour is a Sith! [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, but also a general PSA, don't be like Maul, get enough sleep people, it's really cute and fluffy, sleep is healthy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26361982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laoness/pseuds/Laoness
Summary: Maul is suffering from insomnia, thankfully Shir has an idea how to help it. At first Maul is sceptic, but in the end he gives in and he has no regrets.
Relationships: Darth Maul/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Help, my neighbour is a Sith! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915648
Kudos: 14





	Sleep is healthy

It was already late evening. The sun had set about three hours ago and the planetary city was engulfed in darkness. Well, darkness was always relative on this planet. The countless lights of the buildings and streets and of course the vehicles that flew around always lit up the planet, no matter what time of day it was. However, this particular evening seemed to be very calm. It was raining. The sound of the water drops hitting against the windows of the apartment were rather comforting. A few lamps lighted up the living room of the apartment but overall it was rather dimmed. 

Just how Maul enjoyed spending his evening. He was lying on the sofa, reading a holopad. Reading had become his primary hobby these days. There just wasn’t that much to do. Shir was out on a job and would come back any moment. At least, he presumed so. She had been gone the entire day, but he was used to that already. Easy jobs normally didn’t take her much longer than ten hours. That of course included traveling time. No wonder she needed to sleep so long. He never understood how she could sleep for ten hours straight without waking up once. And then still feel tired. Oh well… 

Eventually the front door opened and Maul heard someone enter. He lowered the holopad and looked up to see Shir walking inside. Her armour and clothes were wet and a little dirty, her hair was a mess and likewise wet; the water drops were dripping onto the floor. She didn’t even bother to wipe her feet and left muddy footprints all over the floor. In one hand she was holding a bag. But her happy expression was what caught Maul’s eye. 

“What are you smiling about?” He asked, now sitting up properly. 

“I’m just happy to be home, that’s all.” She said, chuckling. Shir proceeded to put the bag down on the table. “Also I got you something with the money I earned today.” Not all the money of course. Now Maul got curious. What in the name of the stars could she possibly get him? If anything, he was the hardest person to find any sort of gift for. 

“And what would that be?” he asked, trying to not sound too curious about the matter. Shir searched the plastic bag to take out a small package of what looked like medicine. She threw the package over to him and the zabrak caught it with one hand. Yes, he just was that skilled. Curiously, he inspected the package and huffed. 

“Sleeping medication?” he looked at her, almost offended. 

“Yes. Because I’m concerned about your sleeping schedule.” Shir answered while taking off bits of her armour. She really needed to change into some dry and clean clothes. Preferably something comfortable too. 

“My sleeping schedule is perfectly fine.” Maul grumbled and put the package of medication to the side, crossing his arms. Was that a pout he was giving her?

“You sleep less than five hours per night.” Shir replied with a sigh while putting her hands on her hips. 

“Yes, like I said, perfectly fine.” Maul huffed. Yes, that was definitely a pout. Shir sighed and took off her gloves and boots. 

“That is not fine. It’s not healthy. And I know you have insomnia and are plagued by those weird ass Sith nightmares and stuff… But I think, if you get a few hours more sleep, you’ll feel much better the next day.” Honestly she felt bad for him. It must be hell living with those nightmares and not being able to sleep properly. She just wanted to do what she could to make the nights at least a bit more bearable for him. 

Maul was still pouting at her with crossed arms. “I don’t see how some simple pills are going to help my state.” In truth, he had already given up ever sleeping normally again. Even before the time he went insane, sleeping calmly and feeling rested was rare. The dark side was always surrounding him and filling his mind with ill thoughts, making him restless. 

Shir sighed softly. Almost defeated she walked towards her chambers. But on her way there, she stopped behind him. Without another warning she put her hands on his shoulders. “At least try it for one night. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll know.” She said softly and with so much care in her voice, it almost astonished herself. Gently she rolled her fingers over his tense shoulders and started to massage them. Wow, she knew he was in a bad state, but this was unheard of. 

Maul wanted to say something as a counter argument but the moment she started to massage his shoulders and neck, he closed his mouth. Kriff! That felt amazing, why had she never done that before! Without even realizing it he closed his eyes and hummed satisfied. Her touch felt so soothing and with her strong hands she really could squeeze the tension out of his muscles to make them relax. A shiver ran down his spine and it made him flinch for a moment. 

Shir noticed his reaction and smirked. Gently she moved some of the fabric aside and put her hands on his bare skin. It was warm and a little rough, but she actually really liked that about the zabrak. She continued her work of the gods and pushed just a little harder. 

Maul leaned his head a little towards the back, fully melting away in her touch. He had to bite his lower lip to keep himself from making certain sounds. Naturally he didn’t want to give her that satisfaction. But when he felt how she used a little more strength, he couldn’t hold back a very soft moan. Out of reflex he grabbed hold of one of the pillows he was sitting on and felt like he was thrown into another dimension. Her fingers felt so smooth and soothing on his skin, like nothing he had ever experienced before.

“Well?” Shir said softly and couldn’t stop herself from grinning. “Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?” She giggled. Who knew it was so rewarding to see him in such a state? No complaining, no sassy remarks. He was just humming in satisfaction. And she enjoyed it to the fullest. Eventually, she ran her hands over his shoulders and down his chest, leaning half over him. “Are you at least going to try it?” Her words were almost a whisper – not seductively, but lovingly. 

The zabrak grumbled a little embarrassed. “Fine.” He eventually gave in, still with his eyes closed. “Just because you said so.” 

“Good.” Shir smiled and promptly pressed a kiss on his cheek before standing up straight again. “I’m going to take a shower and change. Be right back.” She wanted to leave, but Maul quickly turned around and grabbed her wrist – gently. 

“Uh, wait.” Her touch just felt so nice and soothing, almost comforting, he didn’t want her to stop. But how was he going to ask for it without feeling embarrassed?

“What?” She raised a brow, almost looking concerned. Maul stared back at her and just couldn’t utter a word. But his grip around her wrist tightened a little. He was almost shaking, before he let go again. 

“Nothing.” He mumbled and turned his head to look in front of him again. Shir blinked a few times in confusion but then smiled. Somehow she had already figured out what he wanted to say. 

“If you want another massage, you just need to ask you know.” She chuckled. Maul remained quiet, but by now she had learnt it was a sign that he was embarrassed about something. It was kind of cute. She’ll probably give him another massage regardless. It was clear he needed them. After brushing over the back of his neck with her fingertips (which made him flinch once again), she finally made her way to the bathroom. 

Maul sighed deeply when she left the room. How did he deserve someone like that? His gaze fell upon the white box with the medication. With some Force wielding he pulled it into his hands to check it again. “Take two or three pills, depending on insomnia before going to bed.” He read out loud. “What does that even mean…” But he shrugged, got up and poured himself a glass of water in the kitchen. He took three of the pills and gulped them down with some water. How long was it going to take for it to work? Probably not instantly. While Shir was still busy showering, he walked into the bedroom, took off his shirt and lied down on the king sized bed. Somehow it felt even more comfortable than before. He grabbed one of the holopads and started reading while he waited for her to come back. 

About fifteen minutes later, Shir walked into the bedroom, dressed in a sleeveless shirt and some loose pants. “Sorry, I took my time. The job was…” She stopped when she realized he had already fallen asleep, still with the holopad in his hand. In confusion she scratched the side of her head. “Wow those meds work miracles…” She whispered to herself but then smiled. Carefully she grabbed the holopad and put it away, before climbing into bed as well, without waking him up – although she was convinced that it was impossible by now – and turned off the lights. 

The night was cold, something Shir didn’t take into account when dressing for bed. Even if the covers were thick enough, she still felt a little cold. Gently, she reached out her hand to find the zabrak sleeping next to her. Eventually she found his arm and trailed her hand all the way up to his torso. God, he was always so warm, it was almost like a portable heater. She scooted closer and cuddled up to him. Ah that was much better. With her head rested against his torso, she finally fell asleep herself. 

The next morning Shir woke up just the way she had fallen asleep. Still with her head on the zabrak’s torso, which was moving up and down slowly. After a few more moments, she opened her eyes. A few sunbeams found their way through the darkened windows into the room. Shir remained lying in the same position for another moment before carefully sitting up and stretching. Only now she processed that Maul was still in bed with her. Usually he was up hours before she even woke up. Not this time. If he wasn’t visibly breathing, she might’ve thought he was dead – that’s how peaceful he looked. 

He was still lying on his back, with one arm behind his head and the other half on his torso. The little sunlight that shone through the windows reflected in his metallic legs, which in return deflected the light onto the wall in form of a small stripe. That polish really did work wonders, she thought to herself. Even so, she could see tiny scratches on his knees and shins. Some were deep; others were just minor damages. Again she was reminded of his tragic fate all those years ago and had to sigh softly. 

Shir decided to enjoy this morning and lied back down with her head on his torso, softly trailing the tattoos on his chest and arms – something she had always admired about him. But eventually, hunger was getting the better of her and when her stomach grumbled for the second time, she decided it was time to get up. Carefully she climbed out of bed and left the room as quietly as she could. The zabrak hadn’t moved at all, which was so weird to her. Usually – even when he was meditating – he always moved either his fingers or his legs. He never sat still. But now, for the first time, she witnessed him motionless and it was so refreshing and almost peaceful to see. She sure was happy she gave him those meds. 

The human walked into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. With food and drink she sat down at the table and almost devoured it while listening to the morning news. Nothing too thrilling; a robbery here, some accidents there; nothing she wasn’t used to by living on Coruscant. After the news was done, she wondered what she was going to do today. Maybe she could clean her weapons again and improve her armour a little. Zena had given her some great tips on that. 

But she ended up doing neither of those things and instead decided to clean up the mess she had left the night before. After that, like the true bounty hunter she was, she counted her money she had earned from the latest job before putting it away safely. Eventually she realized it was already passed 10 am and Maul was still not up. But she shrugged it off. It was still morning after all. She decided to grab some clothes from her bedroom and get dressed somewhere else, in case she’d wake him up. Then she sat down at the table and started browsing the holonet for something interesting to do.

An hour later, he was still sleeping. And at noon, she decided to check if he was still breathing. Thankfully he was. But now he had at least changed position and lied on his side. It gave her the opportunity to check out his back tattoos. Well, his entire back was almost completely black. What was more interesting to look at, were his toned shoulder blades. Backs were just very aesthetically pleasing. After enjoying the sight, she left the room again.

It was another three or four hours later when Maul finally woke up. He first stretched his arms, one of which had fallen asleep, and then slowly opened his eyes. God, he felt so disorientated and had to think for about twenty seconds which day it was and where he was. Slowly, he sat up and scratched his head. He took another look around. Clearly he was still in Shir’s bedroom. How long did he sleep? He had no idea, since all his feeling of time had been lost. At least the sunlight indicated it wasn’t night.

“What the hell…” He mumbled and rubbed his eyes. Still feeling a bit sleepy, yet rested, he stood and took the moment to stretch his legs. It was good to tend to the mechanical joints after having lied down for so long. Then he walked into the living room and found Shir sitting on the couch, fully dressed and reading. She must’ve heard him come in, since she moved her head towards him. He was greeted with a bright smile, but there was only confusion on Maul’s face. 

“Well good morning, sleepy head.” She grinned. Maul, still feeling slightly disorientated sat down next to her. 

“How long did I sleep?” He asked, almost not believing he was gone for so long. 

“Eh, I’d say about 17 hours, maybe 16.” She didn’t quite remember when they headed to bed last night. Maul was visibly shocked by that answer. “I told you those meds were a good idea. How do you feel?” She was still smiling. 

“I… I actually feel rested for once.” Maul mumbled. 

“No nightmares?”

“No. No nightmares.” This fact somehow surprised him. “I feel so refreshed and rested. Is this how you normally feel after sleeping?” Shir had to laugh heartedly at that. 

“Yes, this is how you’re supposed to feel after you slept.”

“Damn, I’ve been missing out a lot.” Maul now said while rubbing his neck. 

“Indeed you have.” Shir smiled softly. 

“Thank you.” Maul simply said and gave her his warmest smile. That was the first time he ever said those words to her and it filled her with happiness.


End file.
